


Absorption

by fragilespark



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-08 05:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5485040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilespark/pseuds/fragilespark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fade demon attempts to possess Hawke</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absorption

Hawke became a feral creature, her face smeared with blood and snarling, as she took down one Templar after the other. The glistening red clung to her skin as if pulled in by gravity. Her eyes glowed unnatural red and the last Templar screamed “Die!” as he ran towards her, sword raised.

She did not even have to touch him. He was flung across the cave like a ragdoll, his body torn and spilling as he hit the wall, dead before he hit the ground. His blood did not land with him, sucking towards Hawke.

“No!” she cried, clawing at the back of her neck. Her companions stood transfixed in that moment, each coming to a realisation as to what was happening. Hawke seemed to struggle with herself, her invisible foe. One hand grasped the air in front of her as she looked pleadingly at Sebastian. “Shoot me. Shoot me!”

He had already drawn his bow.

“No!”

“Not to kill!”

Sebastian’s voice as as steady as his aim. “Do not jolt me. Stay still, Hawke.”

His arrow pierced her shoulder and she cried out in pain but remained standing. She closed her eyes, continuing her internal battle while the blood seeped into her clothes and ran down her arm.

Sebastian muttered a chant.

Hawke’s eyes opened to meet his gaze once again. “Louder.”

Sebastian continued with conviction and feeling, and Hawke closed her eyes again. Her lips were moving, but she was not following the words of the prayer. No-one dared move. Hawke swayed. Sebastian fell silent.

The Pride demon tore into view, his massive frame behind Hawke. Before Sebastian could fire another shot, the demon lifted Hawke by the throat and had her kicking and sparking with the last of her stamina. The companions closed in, their target clear now although their attacks were wary. The demon gripped Hawke by the waist and lifted her high so that she almost touched the ceiling of the cave. In that moment she was Bethany, at the mercy of an Ogre, and she screamed against a repeat of that fate, flinging magic, Sandal’s rune, anything, to keep her alive.

She heard the demon’s offer. Survival. Glory. She was a _Hawke_. To save herself and have the strength to defeat anyone and anything, she would have to accept his power.

Her friends were wearing him down and she knew it was as much about his survival as hers.

_“You have spilled enough blood to feed your power now even without my aid.”_

In the dull submersion of her thrall something was keeping her from considering it. Sebastian was furiously, passionately reciting passages from the Chant, punctuating every fire of his bow and arrow, exhausting his supply and the fallen Templars’ too.

He had bought her enough time. The demon, knowing he could not hold back his demise unresisted, threw her down to the cave floor.

The pain was sharp; her head had smacked on the cold stone and her skin split, a new wound at her back from a sharp ridge. The pain was real. There was no more confusion as to where her power ended and the demon began. The sounds of battle were clear and loud and did not help the deep ache in her head. She was vaguely aware that the demon was almost defeated, she sensed him as he dove to her, trying to reach her through the Fade. Anders, bright with Justice, moved between them and lashed out with a spell that she was sure Anders did not know.

It fell quiet again and he was the only one to approach her. She was not prepared for him yanking out the arrow and she groaned with the pain. His healing magic was on her and in her and she was lulled slightly, her muscles relaxing and her eyelids drooping. He did not say anything, but when he was done he stood and backed away a step, his eyes on her.

Everything had changed. She had changed.

She heard her name and turned to look at Sebastian. He swung his bow across his body and leaned down to lift her. She had enough strength to wrap her arms around him as he carried her out of the Cave, to where the sunlight was too bright and the air tangy with forest smells, not all of them pleasant. Had she really survived this? He repeated her name.

She closed her eyes. “How does it go again?”

He started to ask, but his next words were the Chant of Light.

“Sebastian… thank you.” Hawke sat up and tried to get to her feet.

Sebastian took her hands and helped her. “My Lady.”

She smiled at him, then. Not everything had changed. Maybe she wasn’t a monster. The presence of her friends behind her was as imposing as the demon had been. She turned to face the beast. “I’m sorry. And I’m scared.” She had said the first many times but not the second. She was still weak, and shaken. Sebastian’s touch was reassuring just as Anders’ had been healing. She looked up at the other mage. The thanks were whispered because the silence was unnerving. She thought of Carver. What would he think?

“We should probably be getting away from all the dead bodies.” Varric said.

They weren’t just bodies, they were Templar men and women. She had killed them. Even though they attacked her with misplaced condemnation. Were they not right after all? She was what they feared. She put her head in her hands.

“Hawke, it’s okay.” Sebastian’s voice was a source of comfort once again. “You were strong. You did not let the demon take you.”

“But it was close to it,” cried Fenris.

_Don’t tell me. I know. I know._

But to overcome her pride, she had to accept humility. She had to hear it, although it made her heart sink and her cheeks burn with shame.


End file.
